Spider-Man Villains
Spider-Man has one of the best-known rogues galleries in comics. Many of Spider-Man's villains' origins are based in scientific accidents or the misuse of scientific technology, paralleling Spider-Man himself. Likewise, many also have animal-themed costumes or powers. Spider-Man's enemies are some of the best rounded antagonists in comics, with equal emphasis put on both their special abilities and their personalities. Spider-Man also has a wide range of villains: hapless thugs, mad geniuses, crime bosses, and even extraterrestrial monsters. Due to the nature of the shared universe he inhabits, he has also fought many villains more closely associated with other heroes. However, these are not considered Spider-Man's own enemies. Greatest Foes Spider-Man's most renowned rogues include: *Carnage - Carnage is the combination of a symbiote spawned from the original Venom symbiote and the serial killer and former cellmate of Eddie Brock, Cletus Kasady. He thrives on murder and chaos and is stronger than Venom and Spider-Man combined. To stop him the first few times, Spider-Man had to resort to calling on Venom for assistance. *Carrion - Carrion is derived from a sentient RNA recombinant virus, programmed with the memories of Miles Warren, the Jackal, and engineered for superhuman powers. The first Carrion tormented Peter Parker by claiming to be the undead clone of Warren. Later, Malcolm McBride was an Empire State University science graduate student who was resentful of Peter Parker. While stalking Peter, Malcolm accidentally came across Warren's lab and made contact with the Carrion Virus. This exposure turned Malcolm into Carrion, not only giving him the knowledge of Spider-Man's identity but also garbing him in Carrion's rags and shoulder bag containing the deadly red dust. *Chameleon - The first villain Spider-Man ever faced, Dmitri Smerdyakov was a Russian spy with a knack for disguises. Being the half-brother of Kraven the Hunter, he also sought to avenge Kraven's death, become the most powerful crime boss in New York City and utterly destroy Spider-Man with his mind games, including creating the impostors of Peter's parents. *Doctor Octopus - Dr. Otto Octavius is a respected scientist, one of the world's foremost experts in radiation. He used four mechanical arms in his experiments, which bonded with his nervous system after an explosion. He combines physical power with mad genius. Founding member of the Sinister Six. He was responsible for the death of George Stacy. Ock himself became a victim by Spider-Man's insane clone, Kaine, in which Ock was murdered but he was later resurrected by the Hand. After years of battling the wall crawler, a fatal disease took over and his body was failing. Given only months to live, Otto modified his harness to sustain his bodiliy functions, while adding an additional four arms and creating an army of miniture "octopus robots" so as to take less pressure on his own body. His final villainous act was to switch minds with Spider-Man and let him die in his own failing body, but just before this he learned that With Great Power there must also come Great Responsibility. When Peter Parker died, Octavius became the Superior Spider-Man, and then sacrificed himself when Parker turned up alive, in order to give him his life back. Recently, an evil duplicate of his consciousness turned up alive. *Doppelganger - An evil, near-mindless duplicate of Spider-Man that was created by Magus during the battle known as the Infinity War. The six-armed creature was one of many doppelgangers created during this conflict. The Doppelganger possesses Spider-Man's strength, speed, wall-climbing abilities, and spider-sense, and also has six arms, claws, fangs, and the ability to produce its own razor-edged webbing. *Electro - An emotionally stunted man with an inferiority complex, Max Dillon was struck by lightning while working on power lines and discovered thereafter that he has a supernatural control over electricity. Donning a green and yellow lightning themed costume, he has gone on to battle Spider-Man numerous times. Founding member of the Sinister Six. He recently was killed by his ex-girlfriend, the newest Electro Francine Frye. *Green Goblin - Originally a normal scientist and ambitious businessman, Norman Osborn used an experimental formula which gave him superpowers but also drove him insane. When Spider-Man thwarted his plans to take over as crime boss of New York City, he dedicated himself to utterly destroying Spider-Man's life. Their mutual animosity became personal when he killed Gwen Stacy. Osborn was killed by his own glider, but his death didn't end the legacy of the Goblin. Others including his son, Harry, took up the mantle, until he returned and revealed himself as the the mastermind behind the Clone Saga. His heightened strength gave him regenerative powers, allowing himself to be revived. Upon his return, Osborn made life a living hell for the wallcrawler. He manipulated his children, Gabriel and Sarah, into thinking Spider-Man killed their mother, Gwen, as Gwen and Norman Osborn had an affair. Osborn later saw Spider-Man reveal himself on national television, then watched as he exposed Osborn as being the Green Goblin too. He was then arrested by SHIELD for the murder of Gwen Stacy, and imprisoned in the Vault. Osborn was later inlisted in the Thunderbolts, using his Goblin persona to help hunt down unregistered Superheroes during the Civil War. He managed to gain leadership of the ex-supervillain taskforce during the Pro/Anti registration conflict, but got the most joy when he was ordered to hunt down Spider-Man. During the Skrull Invasion, thanks to intel accidentally sent to him by Deadpool, Osborn managed to be the one to kill Veranke, the queen Skrull and leader of the Earth Invasion. This event put him in the public spotlight as a hero. He used this new fame to manipulate the media and the government, eventually rising to the level of power he always dreamed of. He disbanded the 50 State Intitiative, Avengers and SHIELD, had Tony Stark turned into a wanted criminal, stole his armor to become the heroic "Iron Patriot", then created a secret Cabal of supervillains to undermine and eventually destroy all the remaining heroes that stand against them. He lost control of HAMMER when he tried to invade and destroy Asgard. He later became the Green Goblin yet again and fought Spider-Man, only to be cured of the Goblin Serum permanently and escape. *Hobgoblin - A millionaire fashion designer named Roderick Kingsley acquired the Green Goblin's weaponry and used them to further his own ambitions. He later retired from his identity but came back when his brother was killed by Phil Urich who took the Hobgoblin identity for himself. *Jackal - Prof. Miles Warren was once a professor of biochemistry at Empire State University. At some point, he studied genetics under the tutelage of the High Evolutionary, but was expelled from the Evolutionary's headquarters when he proved to be unstable. He received further training and equipment from Maelstrom. Warren fell in love with one of his students, Gwen Stacy, who was the girlfriend of Peter Parker. After Gwen was killed by the original Green Goblin, Warren turned his attention towards methods of cloning, inspired by the creation of a full-grown frog to attempt to clone humans. When he killed his lab partner Anthony Serba (who had discovered the truth) Warren became completely insane, developing the personality of the Jackal as he tried to convince himself that someone else had killed his assistant, rather than he. In his first appearance as the Jackal, he attempted to manipulate the Punisher into killing Spider-Man (this was the popular anti-hero's first appearance), but when the Punisher learned of the Jackal's deception, he turned against Warren. The Jackal - with the aid of a Scrier, working for the Green Goblin - subsequently worked to create clones of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. However, his first apparently successful attempt quickly began to show signs of degeneration. It was much later revealed that this clone managed to escape before Warren could kill him, and would come to be known as the serial killer called Kaine. Warren then refined the process, and although several more failures resulted, he eventually successfully created clones of Gwen, then Peter, who did not suffer from the tell-tale degeneration. The Parker clone and the Jackal were both apparently killed in battle with Spider-Man. He returned later during the Clone Saga event, where he tried to replace all of humanity with clones. He was stopped, but that has not stopped him (or is it his clones?) from returning to constantly plague the wall-crawler.Clone Saga mega-event. *Jack O'Lantern - The original identity of Jason Macendale who donned an extravagant and theatrical costume (notable for His head is a flaming pumpkin) and sought to discredit and fought Spider-Man until he became the second Hobgoblin. It was later adopted by Daniel Berkhart, who later became the second Mysterio (the original had commited suicide when confronting Daredevil), and his partner, Maguire Beck, who used the Jack O'Lantern identity but the name Mad Jack. *Kingpin - Wilson Fisk is the most powerful crime boss in New York City and perhaps the entire east coast, thus becoming a frequent foe of Spider-Man. He allied himself with many supervillains so they can do his bidding, eventually starting a feud with another superhero, Daredevil. Despite the personal nature of Murdock and Fisk's vendetta, Spider-Man continues to be a reoccurring thorn in the crime boss's side. *Kraven the Hunter - Perhaps the most respected big game hunter in the business, Sergei Kravinoff eventually set on a quest to capture the most elusive prey there is - the amazing Spider-Man. After being defeated numerous times by the web-slinger, his quest became an obsession. When he finaly did defeat Spider-Man, he felt there was nothing more for him to do, so he committed suicide. He was a founding member of the Sinister Six and when they were formed together again, the Hobgoblin replaced him. He has recently returned during the Grim Hunt. *Living Brain - Soon after its creation, was brought to Midtown High School by its creator, Dr. Petty, as a part of a demonstration of its ability to solve any problem. After the Living Brain's demonstration, two workmen hired to transport it overheard the Living Brain's ability to answer anything, and decided to steal it, in order to use its abilities for gambling purposes. Caught in the middle of stealing the Living Brain by Dr. Petty, the two workmen got into a scuffle with him, which ended with one of them being knocked into the control panel on the Living Brain's chest, which caused the Living Brain to malfunction. Going on a rampage through Midtown High, the Living Brain was eventually shut down by Spider-Man, who destroyed its control panel, in a brief fight. The Living Brain reappeared several years later, discredited and broken-down. Dr. Petty planned to donate it to Midtown High School's science lab. The Living Brain ended up being stolen by Dr. Petty's son, Steve Petty, who modified the robot, giving it a gold and red color scheme, clawed hands and the ability to fly. Remotely controlling the Living Brain to attack a bully who had been tormenting him, Steve was eventually defeated by Spider-Man (who had been on a visit to Midtown High as Peter Parker) and the Living Brain was shut down once more. Living Brain later appeared as a member of the Sinister Six when they fought the Superior Spider-Man. Following this, he had it delivered to Horizon Labs, where its reprogrammed to serve as his new lab assistant. After the Superior Spider-Man's death, an evil duplicate of its consciousness infiltrated the Living Brain's body, forcing Parker to destroy it. *Mysterio - A disgraced stuntman and special effects artist named Quentin Beck who donned an extravagant and theatrical costume (notable for it's fishbowl like helmet) and sought to discredit and frame Spider-Man using illusions. Mysterio is well known for buying into his own hype, treating every moment as if he is a grand performer on the world's stage. He's a founding member of the Sinister Six. His student and friend Daniel Berkhart adopted the identity after Quentin Beck's death when he commited suicide when he fought Daredevil, but he has since returned by unknown means. He ended up discerning Spider-Man's identity and was sent to another dimension, but was recently returned after Secret Wars. He is one of the few enemies of Spider-Man to still know his identity. *Sandman - While on the run from the law, the escaped convict William Baker found himself on a remote beach during a nuclear weapon testing. His cells were spliced with sand molecules, and his body became a mass of sand-like substance. Under the alias Flint Marko, he committed many crimes and fought Spider-Man frequently. He was also a hero for some time, until he was brainwashed into being a criminal again. He is a founding member of the Sinister Six. *Shriek - During her childhood, she was abused by her mother for being overweight, driving her to drugs and leading to her later fixation on becoming a mother herself. She became a drug dealer, which exposed her to situations that ultimately damaged her sanity; namely, being shot in the head by a police officer, and being put in Cloak's dark dimension. The origin of Shriek's powers is likewise unknown; she may be a mutant, or the powers may have emerged as a result of her time in Cloak's dimension. During Carnage's violent escape from the Ravencroft Institute, he came across Shriek, who was also incarcerated and wished to join him. He freed her, and the pair embarked on a killing spree. They attracted the company of several other homicidal supervillains (Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and Carrion), and formed a "family," with Carnage and Shriek as the "parents" and the others as their "sons". Shriek also used her mental powers to increase the chaos by causing a number of New Yorkers to violently turn on one another, although the heroes were able to calm the people down before they did anything too serious, such as killing their own children. The killers fought a number of heroes, led by Spider-Man, but succumbed to in-fighting. Carnage apparently slew the Doppelganger and left the others to their defeat and capture, although he was subsequently contained by the Avengers after a clash with Spider-Man, Venom and Black Cat. Shriek was captured as well, but that did not stop her from a later escape, and she has since been a thorn in Spider-Man's side. *Venom - When Spider-Man rid himself of the alien symbiote costume he wore since the Secret Wars until he got back to Earth, it bonded with reporter Eddie Brock, who hated Spider-Man. The symbiote gave Brock all of Spider-Man's powers, and even more dangerously, the knowledge of his secret identity and protection from his Spider-Sense. Venom had spawned the most dangerous villain, Carnage, who also spawned Toxin and other symbiotes. Brock later sold the symbiote to an Italian gangster, who died. They later reunited, but during their time separated, the symbiote bonded with multiple hosts, most notably The Scorpion, Flash Thompson and Lee Price. Since then, Eddie had also bonded with other symbiotes. Due to the status quo shift of Brand New Day, neither Eddie nor the symbiote know Spider-Man's secret identity anymore. However, after Spider-Man's temporary bond with the symbiote, both it and Eddie learned Peter's secret again. *Vulture - The elderly Adrian Toomes turned to the life of crime after his business partner cheated him. With a self-invented anti-gravity pack, wings for faster flying and a birdlike costume, he became the high-flying, lowdown Vulture. He is a founding member of the Sinister Six. List of enemies alphabetically *Alistair Smythe *Answer *Arcade *Beetle *Big Man *Big Wheel *Black Cat *Black Fox *Blood Spider *Boomerang *Calypso *Cardiac *Carnage *Carrion *Chance *Chameleon *Clash *Circus of Crime *Coldheart *Crime-Master *Cyclone *Delilah *Demogoblin *Doctor Doom *Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius) *Doctor Octopus (Carolyn Trainer) aka Lady Octopus *Doppelganger *Electro *Enforcers *Finisher *Foreigner *Gibbon *Goblin Nation *Gog *Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) *Green Goblin (Harry Osborn) *Grizzly *Hammerhead *Hippo *Hitman *Hobgoblin *Human Fly *Hypno-Hustler *Hydro-Man *Iguana *Jackal *Jack O'Lantern and Mad Jack *Joystick *Juggernaut *Kaine *Kangaroo *Killer Shrike *Kindred *Kingpin *Kraven the Hunter *Lightmaster *Living Brain *Lizard *Lobo Brothers *Looter *Man Mountain Marko *Man-Wolf *Mendel Stromm *Mindworm *Mister Negative *Molten Man *Morbius the Living Vampire *Morlun *Mysterio *Overdrive *Prowler *Puma *Rhino *Ringer *Rose *Rocket Racer *Sandman *Scorcher *Scorpia *Scorpion *Screwball *Shocker *Shriek *Silvermane *Silver Sable *Sin-Eater *Sinister Six *Sinister Syndicate *Slyde *Spencer Smythe *Speed Demon *Spider-Slayers *Spot *Squid *Stegron *Stilt Man *Styx and Stone *Swarm *Tarantula *Taskmaster *The Burglar who killed Uncle Ben *The Owl *The Queen *Tinkerer *Titania *Tombstone *Trapster *Tri-Sentinel *Venom *Vermin *Vulture *White Rabbit *Will o' the Wisp *Wraith (Brian DeWolff) *Wraith (Yuri Watanabe) *Xandu References Category:Lists